Players of the Ancient Past: part two, Leonardo
Hey guys! I thoroughly enjoyed writing the first part of this blog about Ruy Lopez, inventor of the Ruy Lopez opening, so I decided to write on his main rival throughout his life. If you missed part one here it is: https://www.chess.com/blog/DuncanDoughnuts/players-of-the-ancient-past-part-one-lopez
Anyway, on to this blog.
Giovanni Leonardo di Boni da Cutri, or Puttino (literally small child) as his family called him, was born into a rich Italian family in 1542. Not much is known about his early life and childhood except that he studied law. Eventually, perhaps during or after his law studies, he fell in love with our beautiful game.
Giovanni improved quickly. Legend has it that his brother was captured by pirates, and Giovanni played a game of chess for his freedom. He not only won his brother back, but impressed the pirates so much that they gave him 200 Ducats, or 30,000$ in today's money!
Giovanni dominated his home region Calabria, and moved on to face strong masters like Giulio Cesar Polerio and Tomaso Caputi, who he crushed. By the time he was 18, only the great master from Syracuse, Poalo Boi, could match his amazing talents. Around this time Ruy Lopez de Segura took his famous trip to Rome, where he met Poalo Boi and Giovanni. Despite Giovanni's great fame and accomplishments, Lopez quickly swept Giovanni off the board. As you know, Lopez was handsomely rewarded and was crowned the unofficial World Champion.
As great as Boi and Giovanni were, Lopez had shown them that there was room for much improvement. Giovanni went to Naples and immersed himself in chess for nearly two years! His youthfulness, determination and grit made him a fearsome opponent over the board.
Giovanni went to Rome in 1572 where he met Lopez again, and again was defeated. This did not deter Giovanni! He studied hard, and the next time he and Lopez met, there was a different result.
King Phillip II of Spain invited all the great masters of the world to his royal tournament. His champion, Lopez, and Alfonso Ceron of Spain played with the two Italian masters Giovanni and Boi for riches and fame. Giovanni and Boi defeated the great Lopez, and went on to place first and second respectively.
Here is an unfinished game from that tournament:
There were many games played in the tournament, and Giovanni apparently played Lopez 5 times, losing 2 in a row and recovering to win 3 in a row. The standings were:
1. Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri
2. Poalo Boi
3. Ruy Lopez de Segura
4. Alfonso Ceron
Giovanni played Boi in the last round, and defeated him to win clear first place. Giovanni had now established himself as King of the Chess World!
Giovanni was rewarded with princely gifts such as 1,000 ducats and a cloak of Ermine. Even Giovanni's city, Cutro, was rewarded with a 20 year tax exemption, and to this day is called the "City of Chess".
Giovanni and Boi were invited by King Dom Sebastian I to play his champion El Morro, where they both prevailed. Giovanni finally settled in Naples where he continued to study and play chess under the patronage of the Prince of Bisignano, until he died in 1592. Here is another of his games (or more accurately opening) against Lopez.
Giovanni, While perhaps lesser known than Ruy Lopez or Greco, paved the way for many masters. Italy during and after his time dominated chess until the French in the 1700's. While he did not have the brains of Greco, he did have an amazing work ethic. He showed the world that even Puttino's like him could dominate!
Thanks you guys so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed. I should cover Boi next week. Good luck in chess my friends!
